No formal plea was entered and Legris, who was wearing dark blue tracksuit bottoms and a grey T-shirt, was remanded in custody to appear at Winchester Crown Court on June 4.

Chairman of the bench Alan Belbin told him: "You are being sent for trial to the Crown Court sitting at Winchester on June 4 at 10am for the offence of murder.

"You will be attending on that day for a preliminary hearing."

Legris's 26-year-old son, Jonathan, also from Bournemouth, has been charged with assisting an offender.

He has been released on bail until June 17 when he will appear at Bournemouth Magistrates' Court.

Officers discovered Ms Li's body "concealed within a silver Fiat Punto" in Verwood Crescent in north Bournemouth on Friday night.

Ms Li was last seen alive by her 18-year-old daughter, Lu Yao, at their home in Burnham Drive on the evening of May 23.

The nurse was captured on CCTV earlier that day as she drove out of the hospital car park in her Porsche Boxster car after finishing work.

Specialist officers began forensically examining the Fiat Punto and the surrounding area, some four miles from Ms Li's home, on Friday.

Miss Yao reported her mother missing last Tuesday and had made an emotional appeal for her to get in touch and for members of the public to come forward with information.

Detectives said Ms Li moved to the UK from China a decade ago and had worked at the hospital since 2009.

They said she lived "quite a private personal life" and officers were trying to build a picture of her lifestyle.

A Dorset Police spokesman said: "We still very much want to hear from anyone who may have any information about what happened to Rui Li.

"In particular we would like anyone with information about the movements of two vehicles - a silver Fiat Punto with registration plate W887 PDL and a large white Ford Transit van with registration plate Y491 GFT - between May 24 and May 28 to contact police."